LOS ANGELES - WB Network's "Pepper Dennis" which goes on air tonight at 9:00 is the story of a fiercely ambitious Chicago TV reporter (former supermodel Rebecca Romijn) and her trials and tribulations including the relationship with her sister Kathy (Brooke Burns).
The show has all the elements of being a good one were it not for the fact that its creators try very hard to base it on the lines of "Desperate Housewives" and "Grey's Anatomy." In a direct lift from the latter, Pepper sleeps with a handsome stranger Charlie Babcock (Josh Hopkins) in what she assumes to be a one-off only to discover the next morning that her beau is hired at her network in a position that gives him control over her. This disturbs Pepper so much that she spends a fair amount of time debating on the feasibility of a workplace romance and naturally does not get any constructive work done.
Pepper's life is not smooth by any means as her catty sister Kathy (Brooke Burns) lands up at her home after discovering that her husband is having an affair on the sly. One of the main side stories in Pepper Dennis is the way her relationship evolves with her sister. Perhaps the creators could spend some more time on this aspect, which is definitely one of the more endearing ones in the show. The creators have also forgotten to focus on the comedy aspect and the show ends up as neither here nor there - at least in the first two episodes.
The 33-year-old Rebecca Romijn is pretty likeable, "She's this brave, outspoken, go get 'em-type of girl, but she's also this insecure little girl. I think of her as a cross between my mom and myself when I was a kid," she says on her character in Pepper Dennis. Romijn is best known for her role of Mystique in "X-Men: The Last Stand", but says that comedy was her forte as she discovered on an episode in "Friends" and "Just Shoot Me."
Pepper show co-creator Aaron Harberts agrees that Rebecca is a through comedian, "A lot of actors don't like to play the fool. They feel it weakens them in some way, but Rebecca gets power from it," he says. "She's really a collaborator on set, and we didn't expect that."
